A little snow

The first snow of the winter for us though very little compared to some parts of the country, just a light covering on the lawn.

 We walked up into the woods to take photographs before it melts away.

The temperature this afternoon above freezing and already the snow is melting away,

leaving pretty droplets of water behind.

Our road has mixture of snow, slush and puddles so I hope the temperature stays above freezing tonight or it will be very slippery in the morning.

A heart shaped puddle!

February already

The beginning of February and maybe because we haven't had any snow yet, or many days of cold weather, it really doesn't feel as if we are already in the second month of the year.

February can be very cold and we could still get heavy snow but in the morning sunlight this week the countryside seemed ready for spring.

The calm was broken by the noise of hedge cutting,

a process that always seems very brutal with the modern machines tearing at the hedges rather than cutting them

and covering the lane with fragments of sticks and twigs.

I know that within a few weeks the hedges will be green again and the broken branches will recover. Already the small shoots of honeysuckle leaves are emerging, braving the cold and facing the sun. Although there may be still some winter weather to come, here spring is slowly beginning.

Its been a quiet month here on my blog yet a busy one at home, I feel that I haven't really settled into the rhythm of this new year although it is almost the end of January.

Discussions about student housing options for next year with one son and looking at the rather grim graduate work situation that the other will encounter when he finishes university in just a few short months. An unsettling uncertainty about what to do next which at times seems to take over.

Catching time to wander outside with the camera, I find that winter is already starting to move towards spring. So mild this year and not a flake of snow here, the flowers are out and the birds singing loudly.

I'm hoping for a calm weekend to enjoy this gentle move from winter towards spring.

January

I started January with such good intentions, to be more organised, show up here and post more frequently, try to go for a walk every day and then just a couple of days into 2012 I came down with a sore throat and cough which left me feeling tired and miserable for two weeks and I've let those good intentions slip already. Add a now unemployed husband to this mix and the start of 2012 has been less than auspicious.

This weekend though I started to feel better, the days were crisp, cold and sunny and the soft winter sunlight made everything seem brighter. These photographs were taken at Henley where we browsed charity shops, strolled by the river and treated ourselves to coffee. The last trip for all four of us as the university terms have now started and the boys are away.

This is the last full term for eldest son who finishes in the summer. This year there will be endings, beginnings and inevitable changes. These photographs can serve to remind me that although things seem unsettled at the moment if I take time to look there will always be some brightness.

First flowers

snowdrops

These photographs were taken in my garden on New Years Day. The winter has been so mild that these spring wild flowers have shown their faces at the very start of the year. Looking back at previous years blog posts, the earliest I have photographed the snowdrops and celandines has been the 13th January so this year we seem to be running about two weeks early.

The weather since hasn't been quite so spring-like. We were in the path of some of the high winds sweeping across the country and now have to deal with snapped fence posts and trellis and climbing plants ripped from the side of the house.  Luckily no serious damage.

celandine